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Re:The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year by noer on Friday June 29, 2018 @02:56PM (#17426784)
Unless I'm reading it wrong, they do think of it that way (on coins at least):

>Fortunately, dimes and quarters are cheaper to make, costing less than their monetary value. So the Mint makes up the losses incurred on pennies and nickels with its 10- and 25-cent coins, and last year reported making $391.5 million in seigniorage.

Also, paper money isn't produced by the Mint, it's produced by the Bureau of Engraving & Printing

Re:The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year by mortenjorck on Friday June 29, 2018 @06:55PM (#17428471)
The author of the article thinks of it that way, but I have to think the article is written from a misguided premise. The Mint may publish those numbers in the form of a balance sheet as a novelty, but as far as I understand, they don’t govern the money supply any more than the Bureau of Engraving and Printing does. Their scope is to strike currency, and I would think the exact monetary value of it is immaterial to that mission.
Re:The US Mint lost $69M making pennies last year by slededit on Friday June 29, 2018 @08:15PM (#17428810)
Seigniorage used to be an important revenue generator for governments. This has largely subsided with the transition to bank notes which don't operate under the same market dynamics. But the historical inertia is still there.